Chile

A

Executive

The 1981 constitution vests executive power in a president who is popularly elected, and a cabinet that is appointed by the president. Military leaders controlled the government from 1973 until 1989, when popular elections for a civilian president were held. The military continued to wield significant power in the government, however, until constitutional changes in 2005 greatly reduced its influence. The modifications reduced the military-controlled National Security Council to an advisory role and gave the president the power to remove members from the council. In 1994 the legislature extended the presidential term from four to six years, but it reverted back to four years in 2005.

B

Legislature

In 1989 Chilean voters elected a bicameral legislature, called the National Congress. The Chamber of Deputies consists of 120 members and the Senate comprises 38 members.

C

Judiciary

The highest judicial body in Chile is the Supreme Court. Judges are appointed for life by the president from a list submitted by the Supreme Court judges.

D

Local Government

For the purpose of local administration, Chile is divided into 13 regions (including Greater Santiago), which are subdivided into 51 provinces. The governors, who preside over the regions, and the officials who govern the provinces are appointed by the president. Provinces are further divided into municipalities.

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E

Political Parties

Chile’s political parties have generally been divided into three blocs of the right, the center, and the left. In 1973 the military government crushed and banned leftist parties and ordered others to suspend activity, declaring them to be in “indefinite recess.” From 1977 to 1987 all parties were banned.

Political parties were again legalized in 1987. However, the law was devised to defeat parties of the center and left and to enable the military and its civilian allies to control the electoral process and the governments it produced. Ironically, some of the party registration requirements forced party leaders to organize strong local bases and probably strengthened the forces of the center-left coalition. In addition, district boundaries were redrawn to favor those areas, particularly rural ones, where conservative and pro-military forces were stronger. Despite these handicaps, the process of transition maintained a remarkably steady course and virtually replaced the party system that had been violently dissolved in 1973. Party alignments and voting constituencies split once again into relatively even and stable blocs of right, center, and left.

Two important changes emerged after the restoration of political parties. The center and left maintained a strategic alliance in which the center was dominant, and the right became divided early on over the appropriate degree of proximity to maintain to the Pinochet regime. In the 2001 legislative elections the center-left coalition Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (Coalition of Parties for Democracy) was victorious, winning 62 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. The center-right coalition Alianza por Chile (Alliance for Chile) won 57 seats.